CHICAGO BEARS
SEASON PREVIEW

Roster
The Bears added a bunch of players, but Marshall was the big gain. If Cutler to Brandon happens a hundred times, the Bears will scare the Packers, if not, they might be scaring the Vikings. Jason Campbell and Bush are quality adds. The vital add might be Chilo Rachal, or Cutler to Brandon is going to be a lot of 3 yard hotroutes.
The Bears didn’t lose a ton, save Brandon Meriweather, who jumped in for a year, then jumped out.

Draft

Ok, Urlacher and Peppers vs Godzilla and King Kong in a ladder match for Ditka’s mustache . . . .

Holy Cripe what a bad draft.
If you are 8-8, you should get a couple starters, right? Right?
RD1: He’s got a Pro Bowler on one side, a pretty good one on the other, Plus the Boise product gives up 3 inches and 20 pounds to either.
RD2: Shorter and slower version of the top FA get.
RD3: Project coming off surgery going from Pac10 CB to NFL Safety.
RD4: Current Bears TEs: 6’7, 6’4, 6’7, this guy? 6’2 oh, and he’s from Temple
RD6&7: Two sub 6-foot corners to go with the SIX from last years roster

Offense: The Bears haven’t had a top WR in a LONG time, and now they do. If Cutler to Marshall happens more than 90 times, the Bears make the playoffs, bottom line. This only happens if the O-line let’s Cutler stay upright more than 2.2 seconds on a seven step drop. The O-line has to do a better job here. Mice Tice (remember him?) Is in charge, and Devin Hester has to love that. This could be a scary passing attack. Matt Forte is going to be back and be great.

Defense
OLD. Give me a name on the defense, and he’s been in the NFL forever. Urlacher? 12 years. Peppers? 10 years. Tillman? 9 years. Briggs? 9 Years. Idonije? 9 years. Henry Melton is only 3 years in, but are building around him? Its as solid a 4-3 vs the rush as you get. Problem is, they are 28th vs the pass. There are Five second and third round picks in that secondary, so there’s talent, but not much that scares you.

3 games to watch
Week 2: GB
After seeing how the worst team improved, let’s see how the best one looks. This is also FOUR days later! The Pack get SAN FRAN, the Bears got the COLTS.
If the Bears can’t handle the Pack now, even on the road- they won’t this year. Week 7: Detroit
Monday Night showdown! The Bears have a Bye before this, so they have 2 weeks (3 if you count the Jax game) to get ready for this game. The Lions are who the Bears will be fighting, not only for second place, but for a wildcard as well.
Week 8 Carolina
Carolina is also a wildcard threat, but this is a home game and the Panthers should have one of the better O-lines and rushing attacks in the NFL. If the Bears drop this one, they could be under 500, with all the losses to NFC teams. (GB/Stl/ Dal/Det/Car)

Second look:

By Dan Vachalek
What I can expect from the Bears this season is a 10-6 record. But, I don’t know if they’re going to be able to make the playoffs. I do like the Cutler-Marshall combo and if Matt Forte stays healthy for the entire season then they have a strong offensive trio, but I don’t see them making any real big news or do something strange. I’m not the biggest fan of their defense, but it is still good. I don’t think that the Bears are going to be able to stop the offenses that the Lions and the Packers are currently reppin’.

2 Comments

I like what they have done, David. Marshall is familiar with Cutler and they should improve the passing game. They added a quality backup QB in Jason Campbell and backup RB in Michael Bush. So, they are a deeper team this season.

Uhrlacher’s knee could be a problem for them. The defense is aging and the window is closing for them. Lovie should be on the hot seat with the offseason moves. If they don’t get it done, look for some changes to be made.